To the last I grapple with thee; from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee!

How does this Moby-Dick analogy account for the fact that it is generally you who are engaged in a Quixotic quest to engage and conquer all those who have anything negative to say about anything Bob Dylan has ever done?

I mean, sure, I respond to the stupid things you say fairly regularly--but that has more to do with the frequency with which you say stupid things than it does about my desire to respond to them.

Songs like this are, like, ...if even ONE band member doesn't care about with performance, it just crashes. But if ALL band members care about the performance--it results in an artistic expression the likes of which earth has never played host to!!

A tremendous creation, the centerpiece of the album IMO, and the one that may stand up to the testament of being his finest blues song. Its intertwining of fact and fiction, time periods, funny & f'd up, its feelings of pride and strength as well as fear and ,of course, loneliness lay bare the soul of Bob Dylan. The first time it truly hit me how incredible the song was, I knew immediately the song would stand the test of time and would only get better. Charlie & Larry owned the song and it was always a powerhouse. In fact, watch that Cardiff performance from 02 that Shitjoy posted...unreal. (Thanks SJ)

Untrodden Path wrote:

I haven't heard one since 2004 that I care to save for posterity. Anything from 2004 and prior will dependably be great.

You are missing out on some even better performances than pre-04. By 05, he changed the key and kicked it a little faster essentially borrowing Leopard Skin. But it needed a kick in the ass with the new lineup and it grew from there...Besides the ones posted here (that Warscawa is just shockingly good, I'd throw it against anything pre-04), I'd add Tucson 07 and of course many from last year, a good year for the song. He finally let Denny off the leash full time and cut loose again with the song Dayton being a great example.

However, I was so blown away by the song when they pulled it out at Charlie's debut in Seattle, easily the finest I'd ever heard. Charlie tore it up as if he'd been itching to play it since he left. Yet it wasn't the same song, it was a new beast to tame:) An incredible version.Now as strong as that was, I'm not so heady to think that that was the best.

Bob's delivery on that performance is the same breathless, unsupported barking that adorns just about everything he plays these days. The Warszawa 2008 performance is better, but not dramatically--it sounds a bit like it did in 2005, freshly neutered, with a few vestiges of fight flashing here and there. Back in 2001-2004ish he roared on this song just about every time it was played. I don't see how the more recent performances can even begin to hold a candle. Are we using some kind of handicap system that I'm not aware of?

Back in 2001-2004ish he roared on this song just about every time it was played. I don't see how the more recent performances can even begin to hold a candle. Are we using some kind of handicap system that I'm not aware of?

I haven't heard the performance being discussed here, but as someone who likes quite a few post-2004 versions I guess I'll say this: that original roaring arrangement was great, but there other facets to the song, other ways of playing it - there's no sense looking for the qualities you liked about an arrangement they don't play anymore. I'd be pretty bored with it if they still played it that way, even if his voice sounded the same as in 2001.

This song is so good I almost always like it. I love the lyric. I don't get Harmonica Al's perspective at all on this one, it just washes over you and there are so many great lines, images and language (whether it's taken from Virgil or Mark Twain or Howdy Doody) that the fact that it doesn't present a coherent "narrative" just seems irrelevant.

Y'know what I'd love to see him do? Take a quiet, stripped down "Visions Of Johanna"-esque approach to the song. Like Smoke said, he's already conquered "roaring rocker" mountain with it, he might as well go the completely opposite direction. It would either fall apart or be completely brilliant.

that original roaring arrangement was great, but there other facets to the song, other ways of playing it - there's no sense looking for the qualities you liked about an arrangement they don't play anymore.

I'd buy this argument if applied to other songs, but not this one. Lonesome Day Blues? The arrangement/tone/mood of this song has changed very little over the years, aside from minor tweaks to key, tempo, etc. If he was now playing the song in a low-key, gentler arrangement, like Warren says, "looking for the qualities you liked about an arrangement they don't play anymore" would be senseless. But that's not the case. It's played more or less the same way it has been all along.

If he was now playing the song in a low-key, gentler arrangement, like Warren says, "looking for the qualities you liked about an arrangement they don't play anymore" would be senseless. But that's not the case. It's played more or less the same way it has been all along.

It is played more low key - though not stripped down as far as Warren suggests, it's got more swing and less roar.

I would say that the word "swing" describes primarily the band/instrumental accompaniment, while "roar" describes Bob's vocal. If Lonesome Day Blues is more "swing" than "roar" these days, I'd take that to mean that the focus has drifted from Bob to band, which, in a general sense, is not a favorable development.

I haven't heard one since 2004 that I care to save for posterity. Anything from 2004 and prior will dependably be great.

Please listen to Brixton Academy (3rd Night) 2005!

Got it and I'll be the first to agree, the London 2005 residency is an exception... in every way. Great shows...great performances which, when looking back over the Fall and Summer 2005 shows, seem to come from nowhere. Creative setlists and the band was on fire for nearly every note. I was so-o-o-o-o looking forward to the Spring 2006 tour when those Brixton shows became available...

Worth a listen (and saving for a blistering performance) is the March 24, 2004 from Boston. Larry Campbell and Freddy Koella masterfully work this one and Bob's vocal blues are edfinitely in synch with their playing.

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